Beyond human (un)belonging: intimacies and the impersonal in Black Mirror

Clare Southerton, Miranda Bruce

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter (Book)Researchpeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Both in popular and academic discourse human belonging has been conceptualised as under threat in imagined futures that are increasingly mediated by technologies. These objects are positioned as obstacles to, or corruptors of, human intimacy. Examining intersections of popular culture and lived experience, we draw from qualitative interviews with smartphone users and episodes of the series Black Mirror to discuss dominant narratives of device culture producing a problematic intimacy that revokes our belonging to future human communities. Finally, we propose a rethinking of intimacy, via philosopher Gilbert Simondon, which allows us to imagine how non-human belonging might refigure technological futures.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationSocial Beings, Future Belongings
Subtitle of host publicationReimagining the Social
EditorsAnna Tsalapatanis, Miranda Bruce, David Bissell, Helen Keane
Place of PublicationAbingdon UK
PublisherRoutledge
Chapter7
Pages107-121
Number of pages15
Edition1st
ISBN (Electronic)9781351780315, 9781315200859
ISBN (Print)9781315200859, 9781138709782
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019
Externally publishedYes

Publication series

NameSelf & Social Identity

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